If I weren’t Annie in Washington, but were, say, Anthea in Athens, I’d consider moving right about now. The Greek economy is cratering. Unemployment is skyrocketing. Taxes are rising. Social services are being slashed. Greece’s participation in the European Union means that I can move and get a job anywhere in it, without a visa. So, I’d figure — I’m young, childless, and college-educated. I’ll try my prospects in Strasbourg for a couple years.

The problem is: I’m useful to the Greek economy. I work hard and pay taxes, but don’t use much in the way of social services like healthcare. I do spend plenty of my income on things like clothes and food, though, and might even open a business if given the chance. Alas, it seems, I am leaving Greece by the thousands.

I used Eurostat to make this chart of the growth changes in the Greek population, broken down by age group. Blue bands are growing and red are shrinking. Eurostat only had data up until 2009, but I imagine we will see trends accelerate in 2010, with a veritable exodus of young members of the work force. On one hand, this might leave jobs for other workers and therefore lower unemployment somewhat. On the other, the trend just does not bode well for the Greek economy.

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Daniel W. Drezner is professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a senior editor at The National Interest. Prior to Fletcher, he taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Colorado at Boulder. Drezner has received fellowships from the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Harvard University. He has previously held positions with Civic Education Project, the RAND Corporation, and the Treasury Department.